Generate Change

January 27, 2011

Last night, I attended an event called Generate: Social Change hosted by AIGA Portland which took place at KEEN headquarters in Portland. It was a panel discussion that touched on inspirational design, picking the right clients, and influencing clients to be more socially conscious.

Photo by Darius

The panelists included:

+ Margret Brown is currently the Graphic Design Manager at Keen, Inc. of Portland. She is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College and a Portland native who worked at Nike for ten years before joining Keen. Margret works with many of Portlandai??i??s best freelancers and small design studios as well as print and display vendors to art direct and produce graphics for Keenai??i??s tradeshows, catalogs, retail displays and packaging.
+ Michael Etter is the founder of re:active, a nonprofit design education program for underserved youth. Michaelai??i??s work reflects his ideas that the power of the creative process can transform community life. His strongest motivation is working to realize an inclusive design education system that will bring voices to the design community that are not commonly involved.
+ Burk Jackson is the founder of CreativeCares, a nonprofit whose mission is to match creative individuals with causes they care about; locally, regionally, and globally. Prior to founding CreativeCares, Burk worked as a photographer in editorial, corporate, and commercial photography for clients in the Pacific Northwest and Nationally. He spent his free time volunteering his photographic skills with different charities and has now created a venue for others to find and work with causes they care about.
+ Dee Lieber is the founder of Sol Identity, a multi-disciplinary consultancy providing values-driven brand messaging and design for a more livable future. Dee partners with a wide range of B2B, B2C and Non-profit clients to develop cohesive brands that radiate truth and relevance for todayai??i??s people and what matters to them most. Her mantra: BRAND the change you want to see.
+ Paul Souders designs websites for Portland-based Mercy Corps, a global relief and development non-profit. Their online fundraising is the envy of their peers, executed in-house by just seven people. Paul joined Mercy Corps in 2007 after a decade of slinging electrons for creative shops, software companies, dot-coms, and retailers.
+ Ryan Weisgerber, Ideas with Heart. Ryan is a graphic designer that works with a group of affiliated organizations that are engaged in activist philanthropy, both in the political and private sectors. The organizations approach projects similarly to how venture capitalists approach investment opportunities, and work to build self-sustaining solutions all over the world that address a wide range of issues.